61 sats \ 3 replies \ @grayruby 21 Apr \ on: NBA GOAT Debate Thought Experiment Stacker_Sports
With all due respect to Durant and Dirk. I don't think they are going to be able to rebound with Kareem and Duncan in the paint so I will take the GOATs. I think the variance in rebounding will outweigh the plus shooting and three point shooting of the Shooters. They are still going to miss sometimes and the GOATs get a lot of easy put back opportunities with Kareem and Duncan in the paint.
Again with all due respect, I also don't think Nash and Steph are big enough to guard Jordan, Magic, Lebron so maybe Bird, Durant and Dirk end up in foul trouble early helping the smaller guys.
So my takeaway is while we undervalued shooting. Maybe we also undervalued D and rebounding.
Bird's the best rebounder on The Shooters, but your point stands. One thing we've learned in the 3-point era, though, is that long shots create long rebounds. That devalues the kinds of bigs who gobble up misses around the basket.
I also think The GOATs would probably win, but based on how these guys are ranked all-time, it shouldn't even be close. The GOATs are generally considered to be the best players at each position, while The Shooters are just the best at one skill at each position (Obviously, those specific players are also good at other stuff too).
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I do think the shooters will do ok on the offensive glass with some long rebounds gobbled up by their athleticism but I think they will have a hard time on the defensive glass. I see Kareem and Duncan just gobbling up short rebounds for easy put backs when the GOATs miss and I think the GOATs get to the basket easier and get tons of free throws especially if the game is called the way it is now.
That being said if the game was played 10 times, I do think the shooters win a few. A couple guys will get hot shooting 3s and they will score in bunches and take a commanding lead.
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I think converting defense into offense would be the decisive element for The GOATs. All of them were elite transition players and all but Magic were elite defenders.
I hadn't thought about free throws. Yeah, one team is full of great foul drawers and they're going up against pretty average defenders.
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